Lehigh's Knutson made parents' trip worth it

Junior scored 1,000th career point in win over Colgate.

Gabe Knutson said his parents, Mary and Steve, were a little crazy for driving from their Urbandale, Iowa, home to Stabler Arena for Lehigh's game Saturday against Colgate.

I'm not sure who had the bigger feat: Knutson for scoring his 1,000th career point or his parents for driving more than 1,000 miles — many through rain, snow and sleet — to see it.

It took the Knutsons nearly 17 hours to make the trek in their Chevy Trailblazer. And, they made the return trip after a brief postgame conversation with their son.

They have made other lengthy drives this season, including to Lynchburg, Va., for a three-games-in-three-days-event; Wagner, Fordham and Cornell, among others.

Steve, who works for John Deere Financial, and Mary, a personal banker for Principal Bank, are keeping the Trailblazer in the garage this week. They are flying in to see Thursday's game at Bucknell and Saturday's contest against rival Lafayette.

"It's great to see their support and it was great to do it in front of them," Knutson said.

Knutson reached the milestone by making two free throws with 7 minutes, 34 seconds left in Lehigh's win. He reached the 1,000-point mark in high school in similar fashion — at the free-throw line.

"I was aware [of the milestone]," the junior admitted. "But personal stuff doesn't really matter to me. It's nice, but at the same time, I only have one [Patriot League championship] ring. I'm trying to get two more."

Knutson, who scored 21 points against Colgate, now has 1,006 career points.

Getting their due: Lehigh freshman Conroy Baltimore and sophomore B.J. Bailey got significant playing time during Saturday's win over Colgate. Their combined 30 minutes all came when the game's outcome was still in the balance.

Even though starting forward Holden Greiner didn't play because of an injured ankle, Mountain Hawks coach Brett Reed planned on playing both against the Raiders.

"After we got hurt a little bit rebounding against American [on Thursday], I felt Conroy was going to get an opportunity," Reed said. "He's a very efficient rebounder.

"A lot of energy [Saturday] came from B.J. I couldn't be more happy for the young man. He was dialed in. There was no hesitation. His first opportunity, he stepped right into a shot without thinking twice."

Baltimore had four rebounds and two points in 10 minutes against Colgate. Bailey had four rebounds, three points and two assists in 20 minutes.

All of Bailey's numbers were career highs at Lehigh. He sat out a season after transferring from Boston University, then missed time because of injuries.

"The difficult thing for B.J. is that he went a long period of time without playing competitive basketball," Reed said. "He commanded the moment [Saturday]."

Blocking way up the charts: Lafayette's Danielle Fiacco continues to climb up the Patriot League career blocked shots list.

The sophomore has a school-record 166 career blocks, four behind Colgate's Leandra Fuller for ninth place in PL annals.

If she stays healthy and continues at her current pace, she would break the league mark of 344 by Bucknell's Hope Foster.

Army graduate Erin Anthony, a Parkland High product, is third with 222 career blocks.

Fiacco is tied with Foster and Fordham's Kelly Roche for the PL single-season blocks record with 95. The Lafayette sophomore can set the mark Wednesday at Holy Cross.

If it's broke, don't fix it: Lafayette's Rob Delaney scored a career-high 22 points in Saturday's loss at Bucknell. It was his first game wearing a mask to protect a broken nose he suffered in the previous game at Army.

TV unkind?: The Bucknell men have won their first 10 league games this season, but the Bison face something that hasn't been done by any team this season. Coach Dave Paulsen's club is trying to win a Thursday-Saturday combination.

Teams playing in the Thursday TV games are a combined 5-7 in that game and the weekend game that followed.

Only Lehigh has won both games, but the second game was on a Sunday so the turnaround wasn't as tough. Plus those games were against two of the league's bottom three teams and both were at home.

So, as Bucknell chases league perfection, it must do so with two Thursday-Saturday scenarios involving travel to finish the regular season: this week against visiting Lehigh and host Holy Cross, and the following week at American and against visiting Navy.

Next up: Two more players are closing in on the 1,000-point mark: Colgate's Mike Venezia needs 10 points and Army's Ella Ellis needs 30.

Drama?: American women clinch the top seed and home-court advantage throughout the PL tournament with a win Wednesday at Navy.

Bucknell men do the same with a win Thursday against visiting Lehigh.

Lehigh men clinch a home game with a win at Bucknell and a Lafayette win against Holy Cross.